As of July 2017, Apple TV was lagging behind Google, Roku, and
Amazon in terms of users who use the streaming device at least
once a month, according to
Variety. Barring a major turnaround, this makes it likely
that Apple TV has fewer monthly active users than its rivals.

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The only reason for any surprise in the popularity of Amazon Fire
TV is the lack of any YouTube app, denying users an easy way to
use the most popular video site on the planet. As of May 2018,
YouTube
had 1.8 billion monthly active users. The missing app is the
result of an ongoing
dispute between Amazon and Google. Meanwhile, the YouTube app
is available on Roku, Google, and Apple streaming devices.

Despite missing an official app from YouTube, there are several
workarounds to watch YouTube on a Fire TV. Chief among them: The
Fire TV has a web browser, so users can simply go to YouTube's
website and watch away. It's less pleasant than a regular app -
you can't cue up a video on your smartphone, as you can with
other streaming services on the Fire TV. And you can't control
playback with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. But it works.

caption

The YouTube app running on an Apple TV.

source

Dave Smith/Business Insider

Even without YouTube, Amazon Fire TV users are likely finding
value in the gadgets' other features, like the ability to use it
to talk to the Alexa agent. Amazon's Fire TV devices have the
same functionality as most of the retailer's own Amazon Echo
smart speakers.

The Fire TV Cube, especially, comes with Amazon's far-field
microphones, which have the same kinds of microphones as an Echo,
meaning it can pick up your voice across the room. And Fire TV
sticks come with remotes with built-in microphones for summoning
Alexa. This means Fire TV devices can be used to set reminders
and calendar entries, check weather, news, and traffic, and
control your smart home devices with your voice.

One of the benefits of having Amazon's Alexa in a streaming
device is using Alexa's artificial intelligence smarts to search
for movies and TV shows. You can ask Alexa to find a specific
movie without knowing which app it might be streaming on, for
example. You can also ask Alexa to control your TV and switch the
channel, too. The Fire TV Cube can even be configured to control
your cable box.

Ultimately, it's clear that Amazon is succeeding despite not
getting any love from YouTube. Still, it's equally clear that not
having the app isn't doing it any favors, either.